Miller

How to spell miller

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce miller

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does miller mean?

1. nounA person who owns or operates a mill, especially one that grinds grain into flour.

Miller in a sentence

• The village miller ground the farmers' wheat into flour.

• As a miller, he rose before dawn to start the grinding stones.

Where does miller come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word is built from 'mill' plus the agent ending '-er', so it literally names the person who works a mill. 'Mill' itself reaches back through Old English 'mylen' to the Late Latin 'molina' and ultimately the Latin verb 'molere', meaning 'to grind'. The same grinding root survives in 'molar', the back tooth that grinds food, which is a useful reminder that the heart of the word is about crushing grain into flour. As a job-name 'miller' was so common in medieval England that it became one of the most widespread surnames in the language, alongside the likes of Smith and Baker. The spelling is reassuringly regular: a single root 'mill' with its double 'l' kept intact, then a plain '-er', so the only real care needed is remembering the two l's that already live in 'mill'.

How the word is built

• mill (to grind grain)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)